If you believe strategic thinking feels more performative than useful, then you’re not alone.

The Salmon Crew is designed with one principle in mind: that strategists do their best work when they see how others work.

In a world full of strategy theatre and performative thinking, we prefer holding space for strategists from all over the world to share their workings. No matter how incomplete they are.

Stop feeling like an impostor. Start finding your strategy crew.

Join the Salmon Crew →

✅ This is for you if:

  • You’re an independent strategist looking for a team vibe

  • You’re fully employed but feel (or are) a one person team

  • You’r a strategy lead who loves honest intellectual debate

  • You’re a founder who’s constantly looking for an edge

  • You’d rather be generous and helpful, not just ‘really smart’

❌ This isn’t for you if:

  • You believe there’s a single right answer to strategy

  • You want a single framework to follow every single time

  • You’d rather win a debate, instead of learning together

  • You’re interested in pushing your work vs actively listening

  • You believe it’s ever justifiable to be ‘the talented asshole’ (yes, some people do!)

What you get as a member

Since starting the collective in early 2024, we’ve carefully re-designed the value we offer based on what members said they needed the most.

Private WhatsApp group

A high velocity, high signal, low noise 24/7 exchange of ideas and half-baked-by-design thinking. We call it the ‘smoking room’. It’s where we test our thinking outside our main gigs.

Private Slack group

If WhatsApp is the smoking room, Slack is the slightly more structured debate space where we share resources, links, reports, tools, and fun stuff. Millennial gifs are optional.

Exclusive events

We host events every other week on comms strategy, social, cultural intelligence, writing, freelancing, and more. The brief is always the same: lived experience and practical advice.

Our most popular formats tend to be:

  • Live Panels. Always featuring crew members.

  • Micro Workshops. Where members show their work.

  • Keynote Karaoke. An exercise in live improvisation.

  • Co-Working Days. IRL in London. Usually by the river.

You can learn more about our next event here.

Curated swipe file

Every week I personally curate 100+ items into a private folder I call my swipe file. It’s made of documents that help me think more effectively as a strategist, or that give me a new cultural perspective. Every member has access to it too.

Your colleagues or pals may already be part of the crew

We currently have people from 17+ different nationalities across four continents. Still no one from Antartica, but let’s give it some time.

And these are folks who work at a variety of places. Some in holding companies, some in indie shops, some in-house, others building their own thing.

But they all have something in common. A deep un-preciousness about how to do their jobs.

What members say

In a recent survey (September 2026), Salmon Crew members rated their experience as a solid 8.89 / 10.

“One of the most valuable investments to help me become a better strategist.”

Adam Ard

“Amazed by its abundance.”

Hemal Gill

“I feel I'm at least 10% smarter than I was yesterday.”

Nazirah Ashari

“A no troll zone corner of the strategy internet.”

Pollyanna Ward

I’m sure you’ve got questions.

Here are some answers.

  • The first 30 days are free. Then it’s $15.00 per month. But prices tend to go up every 6–12 months, so it will never be this affordable again.

  • Yes, you can claim this as a training expense. If you need help with drafting an email to your boss, shoot me an email: rob@salmonlabs.co.

  • Yes, you can claim this as a training expense. I do it for tons of other memberships myself, and so far my accountant hasn’t shouted at me.

  • The collective is global by design. We have people from the UK, US, Eastern Europe, Latin America, South Africa, and a growing cohort of people from different Asian countries. We’re trying to make strategy less theatrical and more useful for people, wherever they might be based. So… Yeah, probably.

  • Just bring good energy and an open mind to learn from others. You don’t need to be an active contributor, lurking is absolutely fine too.

  • Yes, unless explicitly said so. Sometimes we get into deeper topics or exclusive IP reveals and it’s fair to keep those protected for people. But 99% of what we do will be recorded and have a write-up.

  • That’s ok. We have client services people, copywriters, designers in there too. What matters is less that you’re a strategist by title, and more that you like to think strategically.

  • The first 30 days are free, so you can see if you like it and cancel if you don’t. No questions asked. If you want to cancel afterwards, you can do this at any given month. Or just shoot me an email and I will sort it for you: rob@salmonlabs.co.

  • I understand not everyone will be earning enough income to justify something like this. I will happily give away some memberships, just email me explaining your situation and I’m sure we’ll work something out: rob@salmonlabs.co.

  • All good. Just email them to me and I will do my very best to help: rob@salmonlabs.co.

If you believe strategic thinking feels more performative than useful, we’re all here to help.

Give it a go for 30 days. Free of charge. Cancel anytime.

Join the Salmon Crew →